- Google has launched a new Universal Cart shopping tool
- It works in the background to find offers and analyze your purchases
- It is powered by Google’s Gemini AI model
In 2026, it feels like every tech company is frantically wedging artificial intelligence (AI) into all sorts of products and hoping something sticks. Google hasn’t gone that far yet, but it now has your humble online shopping cart in its AI-powered crosshairs — and it could permanently change the way you shop online.
Universal Cart is “a new agent center for shopping across Google” and “a truly intelligent shopping cart,” Google explained in a pre-I/O briefing attended by TechRadar. Unveiled in full at Google I/O 2026, it comes with AI features powered by the company’s Gemini AI model that can help you get a discount or avoid mistakes with the items you buy.
What does this mean in practice? One of the main ideas is that the Universal Cart works in the background. You can add an item to your shopping cart on a website and then go out to watch a video or check your emails. As you do, Universal Cart gets busy: it can “find deals, price drops, give you insight into price history, and can even alert you when something comes back in stock,” Google said.
In addition to helping you save some money, Universal Cart can also help you avoid mistakes at checkout. For example, if you are building a PC, you may have added components to the cart that you want to use in said computer. But if e.g. motherboard and processor are not compatible, Universal Cart will analyze your suggested list, warn you about the problem and then suggest alternative parts. This ensures that you find out about the incompatibility before you pull the trigger, not after.
Changes the way you shop
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Another supposed benefit of Universal Cart is the way it can display perks associated with your payment cards. If you have multiple cards that you use to make purchases, you may not remember all the benefits you get from them. If these cards are registered with Universal Cart, it can tell you if you need to use a specific card at a specific merchant to get a specific benefit.
Universal Cart is designed to be used across websites and across devices. Everything you’ve added to your shopping bag at different retailers is gathered in the Universal Cart, with items divided by seller. That way, you can see everything you intend to buy in one place. You still have to complete each purchase separately, but it can all be done from the Universal Cart – Google handles the payment process itself.
In our pre-I/O briefing, Google added that since Universal Cart runs on Gemini, it will “get smarter as our models continue to improve.” This means that your data can be used to train the feature over time, so if you’re not comfortable with your purchase data being fed into another AI black box, this tool may be one to avoid.
Universal Cart is coming to US users of Google Search and the company’s Gemini app this summer, with YouTube and Gmail integrations later this year. If it proves successful, Universal Cart will definitely be one to keep an eye on – it could change the way you shop forever.
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